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I’ve voted Republican my entire life. None of the candidates were perfect. Many of them weren’t “100% pure”. But they were always better than the Democrat alternative.

But if Donald Trump becomes the Republican nominee, I will vote third party or just leave the ballot blank for president. Why so many people are falling for Trump’s con game, just like the people he scammed with Trump University, is mind-boggling. The man holds absolutely no principles whatsoever, except his own self-promotion.

The main arguments were his authoritarianism, his lack of any principle besides the further aggrandizement of one Donald J. Trump, his racism and misogyny, and his erratic behavior, which led a whole lot of people to write that they were afraid to have him anywhere within a thousand miles of the nuclear launch codes.

Elected officials from U.S. Senators to city councilmen are now speaking up and making it known that they can not and will not support this man as the nominee for our party. A friend and city councilman, Phil Van Treuren, wrote this to our county newspapers:

I’m an elected Republican officeholder, a Republican precinct committeeman, and have supported Republican candidates for the last two decades. But I won’t vote for Donald Trump if he wins the GOP nomination.

Like most voters, I could never support a candidate who mocks the disabled, is slow to disavow the KKK, belittles women, and quotes fascist dictators. Trump is a thin-skinned, vindictive bully who would be a dangerous president. Unfortunately, many Republican voters are falling for the con job Trump is pulling on our party, in spite of his constant contradictions on important issues like taxes, abortion, healthcare and our military.

I’ve voted Republican all my life. But if Donald Trump wins the nomination of the Republican Party, I will break ranks with my party and will not support him.

…

In spite of his powerful, legitimate criticisms, Mr. Trump’s candidacy is about only one principle: power. He has changed his positions on abortion, Syrian refugees, the flat tax, Afghanistan and more in his pursuit of power.

He wants that for himself, though he says he will use it on our behalf. But in the decades he has possessed power by virtue of his wealth, he has wielded it for himself.

Every political candidate has flaws, because they are human. Mr. Trump is not merely flawed — his thirst for power at any cost makes him unfit for public trust. What would he not do with public power?

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I cannot support a man who will change any belief and associate with any evil in order to gain power, or who will use the power of government to silence his critics, or who is dismissive of people he doesn’t like. Everybody counts, or nobody counts.

Nor can I support a man who steals the clothing of Christianity but claims to have never had a need to repent of anything.

Senator Ben Sasse of Nebraska wrote a very thoughtful open letter to Trump voters two days ago. You should really read the entire thing, but here are some good excerpts.

I’m as frustrated and saddened as you are about what’s happening to our country. But I cannot support Donald Trump.

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My current answer for who I would support in a hypothetical matchup between Mr. Trump and Mrs. Clinton is: Neither of them. I sincerely hope we select one of the other GOP candidates, but if Donald Trump ends up as the GOP nominee, conservatives will need to find a third option.

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So let me ask you: Do you believe the beating heart of Mr. Trump’s candidacy has been a defense of the Constitution? Do you believe it’s been an impassioned defense of the First Amendment – or an attack on it?

Which of the following quotes give you great comfort that he’s in love with the First Amendment, that he is committed to defending the Constitution, that he believes in executive restraint, that he understands servant leadership?

Statements from Trump:
***“We’re going to open up libel laws and we’re going to have people sue you like you’ve never got sued before.”
***“When the students poured into Tiananmen Square, the Chinese government almost blew it. They were vicious, they were horrible, but they put it down with strength. That shows you the power of strength. Our country is right now perceived as weak…”
***Putin, who has killed journalists and is pillaging Ukraine, is a great leader.
***The editor of National Review “should not be allowed on TV and the FCC should fine him.”
***On whether he will use executive orders to end-run Congress, as President Obama has illegally done: “I won’t refuse it. I’m going to do a lot of things.” “I mean, he’s led the way, to be honest with you.”
***“Sixty-eight percent would not leave under any circumstance. I think that means murder. It think it means anything.”
***On the internet: “I would certainly be open to closing areas” of it.
***His lawyers to people selling anti-Trump t-shirts: “Mr. Trump considers this to be a very serious matter and has authorized our legal team to take all necessary and appropriate actions to bring an immediate halt…”
***Similar threatening legal letters to competing campaigns running ads about his record.

Again, I have a favorite in this race, and believe that Marco Rubio is our best candidate. But I would have no problem whatsoever voting for Ted Cruz or John Kasich over Hillary Clinton.

But Donald Trump is a bridge too far. He isn’t a Republican. He isn’t a conservative. And I will have no part, zero, in making him either our nominee or our president.

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I was born and raised in Ohio. After growing up in the Columbus area, I moved to Cleveland to study at Case Western Reserve University, and have lived in Northeast Ohio ever since. I live in Wellington with my wife and son. I work in the private sector and have never worked in the political field.

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Third Base Politics is an Ohio-centric conservative blog that has been featured at Hot Air, National Review, Washington Post, Los Angeles Times, Pittsburgh Tribune-Review, Michelle Malkin, and Ace of Spades, among others.